roam-themes and quotes

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  • PRIDE
    • Mariner shoots the albatross for no reason other than he can- pride is inherently irrational.
      • "God save thee, ancient mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus! – Why lookst thou so?" "With my crossbow I shot the albatross. (I.18-20)
    • sailors only care about their own self interest- soon as fog clears they aren't angry at the Mariner. They misinterpret the bad behind the killing.
      • Nor dim nor red, like an angel's head,The glorious sun uprist:Then all averred, I had killed the birdThat brought the fog and mist.'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,That bring the fog and mist. (II.23-24)
    • "wicked whisper" like the mariners pride, prevents him from doing something degrading- asking for help or forgiveness. cranes mirrors spiritual condition of mariner
      • I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;But or ever a prayer had gushed,A wicked whisper came, and madeMy heart as dry as dust. (IV.57)
    • mariner abandons his prideful ways, just wants to be member of the community- to pray a lot, colridge diverts from traditional christian doctrine suggesting people and animals deserve the same love- avoiding pride means avoiding species pride
      • To walk together to the kirk, And all together pray, While each to his great Father bends,  Old men, and babes, and loving friends And youths and maidens gay! Farewell, farewell! but this I tell To thee, thou wedding-guest! He prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. (VII.138-40)
    • Ancient Mariner Themes and Quotes
      • SUFFERING
        • Mariner undergoes several stages of suffering after killing the Albatross, - drought and thirst- shares punishment with crew.
          • And every tongue, through utter drought,Was withered at the root;We could not speak, no more than ifWe had been choked with soot. (II.33)
        • extreme thirst- only liquid close if their own blood- suggest psychologicalsuffering- false hope
          • With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,We could nor laugh nor wail;Through utter drouth all dumb we stood!I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,And cried, A sail! a sail!With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,Agape they heard me call:Gramercy! they for joy did grin,And all at once their breath drew in,As they were drinking all. (III.38-39)
        • sailors reacted poorly to albatross' death but they were not responsible for it. Marriner has their blood on his hands- has to live with their curse until he repents
          • One after one, by the star-dogged moon,Too quick for groan or sigh,Each turned his face with ghastly pang,And cursed me with his eye. (III.49)
        • poem implicitly compares him with one of the sea creatures- suffers from extreme solitude
          • Alone, alone, all, all alone,Alone on a wide wide sea!And never a saint took pity onMy soul in agony.The many men, so beautiful!And they all dead did lie:And a thousand thousand slimy thingsLived on; and so did I. (IV.54-55)
        • Mariner's sin was such that he can never fully atone for it. tow voices earlier suggest he must perform the ritual of penitence every so often- rest of his life- ritual is telling the story to other  troubles souls. desire to tell the story is both physical and mental pain
          • Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woeful agony, Which forced me to begin my tale; And then it left me free.Since then, at an uncertain hour,That agony returns: And till my ghastly tale is told, This heart within me burns. (VII.133-134)
      • Isolation
        • ship driven to arctic- suggest might be early enough in the age of exploration that its uncharted waters
          • And through the drifts the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen:Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken – The ice was all between. (I.14)
        • sailors lose the wind carrying them  home, have to wait till it returns- speaking makes them more depressed- being punished for killing the Albatros through the weather
          • Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! (II.26)
        • sailors killed by death- mariner remains in the life-in-death state. world is large around him- feels like dead weight pushing down on his eyes. lonely, lingering curse on the eyes of the crew makes him want to shut out the world
          • I closed my lids, and kept them close,Till the balls like pulses beat;For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the skyLay like a load on my weary eye,And the dead were at my feet. (IV.58)
        • crew bodies come back to life- souls are dead. mariner can't communicate with them.
          • They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,Nor spake, nor moved their eyes;It had been strange, even in a dream,To have seen those dead men rise. The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;Yet never a breeze up-blew; The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,Where they were wont to do; They raised their limbs like lifeless tools – We were a ghastly crew. (V.76-77)
        • METAPHOR-spiritual condition of the wedding guest parallels the physical and spiritual condition of the mariner when he was separated from both god and humanity out on the sea- only sailors curses to keep company.
          • O wedding-guest! This soul hath been Alone on a wide wide sea: So lonely 'twas, that God himself Scarce seemed there to be
      • TRANSFORM-ATION
        • albatross becomes symbol of mariners sin and pride. imagery.
          • Ah! wel-a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the albatross About my neck was hung. (II.34)
        • mariners fate decided by chance- either die or live a life a lot like death
          • Her lips were red, her looks were free,Her locks were yellow as gold:Her skin was as white as leprosy, The nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold.The naked hulk alongside came, And the twain were casting dice; 'The game is done! I've won! I've won!' Quoth she, and whistles thrice. (II.45-46)
        • mariners big moment of convo is when he realises that even the grossest creatures deserve love and blessing. not aware of blessing them or his pride would have put a stop to it. he does and the curse of the albatross is broken. it falls into the sea symbolising the end of his heaviest burden.
          • O happy living things! No tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart,And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me,And I blessed them unaware.The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so freeThe albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea. (IV.65-66)
        • sailors' curse broken relates to his earlier blessing of the sea snakes. immediately ocean turns from a sickly blood red to normal bright green
          • The pang, the curse, with which they died, Had never passed away:I could not draw my eyes from theirs, Nor turn them up to pray. And now this spell was snapped: once moreI viewed the ocean green, And looked far forth, yet little saw Of what had else been seen— (VI.101-102)
        • direct curse of albatross lifted but its blood remains on its conscience. Never truly wipe away the consequence of his actions- must constantly reaffirm his transformation into a humble soul. wants the hermit to make him confess his deed
          • I saw a third – I heard his voice:It is the hermit good! He singeth loud his godly hymns That he makes in the wood.He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away The albatross's blood. (VI.118)
        • wedding guest undergoes a transformation after listening to the entire story. not exactly sure what makes him wiser its one of the mysteries of the poem
          • He went like one that hath been stunned, And is of sense forlorn:A sadder and a wiser man,He rose the morrow morn. (VII.143)

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